16-Oct-15 Hong Kong's Hospital Authority has narrowly averted a specialist doctor manpower crisis by raising their retirement age from 60 to 65. Under a scheme costing HKD570 mn (USD74 mn), 60 out of 100 doctors who were to retire this year will continue their service. Serving 90% of patients with only 40% of doctors, Hong Kong's public hospitals are chronically understaffed. [image: SCMP]

16-Oct-15 Malaysia based IHH Healthcare is teaming up with Shanghai Broad Ocean Investments to set up a 350-bed tertiary hospital in Chengdu, China, in a move to be a leading provider in Greater China. The new Parkway Health Chengdu Hospital will be IHH’s first tertiary facility in Western China. [image: Perennial]

15-Oct-15 Japan's drug regulator, the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA), is set to open an India office soon. The move is expected to help Indian generic drug manufacturers, which have been seeking to increase their presence in Japan either through exports or by forging joint ventures with partners in that country. [image: The Economic Times]

15-Oct-15 Vetter, a global leader in aseptic manufacturing of drug-delivery systems, has announced a new business entity in Japan. As the second largest pharmaceutical single market, Japan is home to a number of leading global companies which offer a promising injectable pipeline. [image: Business Wire]

14-Oct-15 Indian drug retailers shut up shop for the day on Wednesday to protest against the country's growing online pharmacy industry, and threatened to close indefinitely if the government did not shut down e-pharmacies. The nationwide protest was supported by as many as 850,000 chemists, leaving patients waiting in long queues. [image: Reuters]